


The Fall

by SkyFireForever



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang can be a jerk, Aang can be oblivious, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - The Fire Nation Won, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fire Lord Azula, How Do I Tag, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-02 09:34:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11506638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyFireForever/pseuds/SkyFireForever
Summary: Three years after the events of the show, the world is at peace, everyone is happy, but when Aang lets it all go to his head, he's sent to an alternate timeline in which he never emerged from the iceberg. He sees his friends and how they've changed and he learns why the world really needs the avatar.Eventual Zuko/Katara and Aang/Toph





	1. The Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is my fist dive into Avatar fanfic, so this is my first try at writing for these characters.

Aang laid down on his back, watching the birds circle overhead with a huge grin on his face. He played with his airbending a little, watching as Momo chased after a leaf that Aang bended so that it was always just out of the lemur’s grasp. He laughed as his pet tried to catch it. He sat up and looked around, rubbing the back of his neck. “I still can’t really believe it, Momo.” he admitted, looking at the beach that surrounded him. “We really won. The world is at peace, everyone is safe.” he rolled so that he could lay on his stomach, a goofy smile on his face as he scratched behind Momo’s ears. “All in a year’s work for the avatar!” 

“And yet, the great and powerful avatar can’t wash his own clothes.” Aang looked up to see Katara, arms crossed and a sour expression on her face. “I’ve been doing your laundry for years! Honestly, I am sick of it! You’re just as bad as Sokka!” It was very obvious that Katara was not in a good mood. “Get up! You can wash your own clothes!’ she threw a pair of Aang’s pants at his head, wear the landed directly in the middle of his face.

“Hey, Katara, wait!” Aang pulled the pants off of his head quickly, trying not to retch at the smell. He tentatively sniffed them. “Wow, do I really smell that bad?” he stuck his tongue out in disgust before remembering what he was doing. “Hey, Katara!” he stood up and chased after her. “Come on, it’s just a little laundry!” he made big puppy-dog eyes at her.

Katara didn’t budge. “Absolutely not!” she stepped closer to him, she was no longer taller than him, but she could still very well get in his face and make him shrink in on himself. Angry Katara was scary Katara. “You treat me like I’m your mother!” she snapped. “Is that what I look like to you? You think I’m just here to wash your clothes, do the sewing, and fix you a warm meal?!” it was becoming painfully clear that Aang should have kept his mouth shut. “I am supposed to be your girlfriend, something you know very well, as you never shut up about it! What do you think that means, Aang?!” she glared hard at the airbender and he realized that he was supposed to give an actual answer.

“O-Oh, uh…” Aang rubbed the back of his neck. “It means that we’re always there for each other.” he decided. “Through the thick and thin, you’ll always support me!” he grinned widely, clearly not noticing that Katara was still upset.

Katara huffed, slowly calming down. “It’s so much more than that, Aang.” she said calmly. “We could be there for each other as friends. As partners, it’s about supporting each other. More than that, it’s about mutual respect.” she explained. “It’s about listening to each other, doing everything you can so that you’re both happy. It’s not about just having a friend that you’re allowed to kiss.” her voice was calm and steady, even as she crossed her arms. “I don’t think you really understand that, Aang.”

“What? That’s ridiculous!” Aang looked offended. “I’m the avatar, I know all about love!” he crossed his arms stubbornly. “I’ve been dating you for three years, haven’t I? I’m a great boyfriend!”

Katara sighed and shook her head. “But you don’t see me as an equal.” she said, trying to be as cautious as she could be. “You see me as a friend, yes, and that’s good. We were friends for a long time, but you see me as a mothering figure, I think. Not as a real partner.” she sighed. “I really just think you’re confused about love, Aang.”

“Now that’s just crazy talk!” Aang put his hands into fists, dropping his arms by his side. “You’re just upset that I ask you to do anything!” he was acting childish, but he didn’t care. How dare Katara imply that he didn’t love her? He shook his head and turned his back on her. “I’m going to meditate, don’t wait up.” he walked away angrily. He almost expected her to come running after him, he was kind of hoping that she would, but she didn’t.

Aang walked up to a hill and sat down, putting his fists together so he could meditate. He felt energy run through his body, feeling both cold and hot at the same time. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the spirit world. He smiled as he looked around, he hadn’t been here in a really long time, but he was glad that he was back. It was just as he remembered it, very strange, odd and off, but familiar at the same time. “Avatar Roku?” he looked around for his favorite person in the spirit world to talk to. “Avatar Roku, I want to talk to you!” he called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. 

“Hello, Aang.” When Aang spun around, Roku was already there, as if he had been waiting the whole time. “I must say, I am surprised to see you here.” he admitted. “The war is long over thanks to you and your friends.”

Aang nodded. “Yes, I know.” he bowed slightly in greeting. “I’m here on personal matters, actually.” he explained. “Actually, I mostly came here to cool off. Katara is being absolutely ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous?” Roku repeated, looking down at Aang. “Do go on.”

“She thinks that I don’t know what love is!” Aang felt his anger was returning. “How crazy is that? I’m the avatar! I’ve been alive for a hundred years and she thinks I don’t know what love is?! I fought a war for her! I won a war for her! How could she even say that?!” he asked angrily. 

Roku’s eyes narrowed. “You fought and won the war for her?” he asked, his voice cold and harsh. “Millions of people were killed in a century of bloodshed and you stand before me now, telling me that the only reason you ended it was for a girl?”

Aang rolled his eyes. “Well, obviously she’s not the only reason. Sure, I felt bad for the people who died, but the only reason I started going on my journeys and helping people was because she suggested it!”

Roku stood up straighter, if that was possible, and his eyes began to glow. “How dare you act like the protection of innocent lives earns you a prize!” a ring of white light began to circle Aang, making him stumble back to keep it from touching him, quickly becoming scared. “It is your duty to bring peace and balance to the world! You do not deserve to be able to forget the countless lives lost because of a war beyond all wars!”

“Wait, Avatar Roku, I never meant-” Aang pleaded.

“Silence!” Roku cut him off with a booming voice. “You speak as if you wish the war was not won. Let us see where the world would be if you had never intervened at all!” 

There was a large flash of light and then Aang was falling through a sea of darkness, he was screaming, but no sound could be heard. Suddenly, Aang was surrounded by cold. All he heard was a loud cracking sound and the feeling of falling again, this time landing firmly on something hard and cold. He whined in complaint at the pain. “Ow.” he rubbed his quickly bruising arm, blinking as he sat up. “Where am I?” he looked around himself, realizing that he had landed on ice. He frowned and stood up, finding himself surrounded by ice. His eyes widened in recognition. He was on the iceberg where Katara and Sokka had first found him. “R-Roku!” he called out. “Avatar Roku, where are you?” He looked around, but there was no one to be seen. “This can’t be good.”


	2. Arrival

Aang looked around himself, at the miles and miles of water and ice that surrounded him. He took deep breaths, watching his breath appear in the air before him, the cold biting at his skin. He bent the air from his breath so it would surround his entire body, keeping him warm. “There’s no way that I’m all the way back at the South Pole.” he shook his head. “This is ridiculous!” he sat down on the ice and looked into the water. His own reflection stared back at him, but it looked different somehow. He frowned and spent some time gazing at himself in the water, trying to decide what it was that was different. He snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it!” he grinned at his reflection. “I’m younger than I was.” the grin slipped from his face. “Hang on, why am I so young?” he stared at his reflection for a few more minutes, his eyes widening as it transformed into Avatar Roku. 

Roku emerged from the water, but didn’t appear wet. He stood straight and proud, as usual. “Hello, Aang.” he greeted as he always did.

“Avatar Roku.” Aang stood up. “Why did you bring me back here? Why am I so young? What did you do?”

“I am teaching you a lesson that I hoped you had learned long ago.” Roku said. “You are in the same time in which you left, only you are in a world where you never emerged from the ice all those years ago.” he explained. “You are in a world where the Fire Nation won the war.”

Aang’s eyes widened and he looked terrified. “What?!” he stumbled back. “That’s not possible! There isn’t a world where the Fire Nation wins!”

“There’s an infinite number of worlds in which every possible outcome comes to pass.” Roku explained calmly. “This is one of many world where the Fire Nation wins.”

Aang narrowed his eyes. “I don’t believe you.” he turned his back to the previous avatar. He walked across the ice, seeing Appa. Aang’s entire face lit up. “Appa!” he exclaimed, running towards the flying bison and leaping on top of his head. He hugged his oldest friend. “It’s good to see you, buddy.” he rubbed Appa’s head. “Now let’s get out of here.” he turned around, only to find that Avatar Roku was gone. He shook his head, airbending his way on top of Appa. “The Fire Nation winning. That’s ridiculous. Right, boy?” Appa just made a sort of growling noise in response. Aang smiled and grabbed the reins. “Alright. We can go ahead and visit the water tribe, since we’re already here. It would be nice to see Gran-gran and Pakku.” He smiled. “Yip yip!”

Appa made a loud noise before leaping into the air and promptly falling onto the freezing water. He began swimming lazily, tired. Aang frowned, what did Appa have to be tired about? He hadn’t done any long distance flying for weeks! Aang shrugged and leaned back, gazing up at the sky as Appa floated along the water. “Hang on, where’s Momo?” the boy sat up and looked around, but Momo was nowhere to be seen. “Momo!” he stood up and crawled onto Appa’s saddle. “Momo?” he looked around. He suddenly remembered that Momo hadn’t been with him in the iceberg, he had found his lemur at the air temple. Aang’s blood ran cold and his heart sunk as he fell to his knees. “Momo.” he whispered. He shook his head. Momo was probably just at home. This was all a trick from Roku. Aang laid down, curling into a ball. 

Aang hadn’t even realized that he had closed his eyes before he was opening them again, facing the very blue sky above. He sat up, yawning and stretching. Appa was right next to the mainland. Aang grinned and hopped off. “Great! We know the way to the village from here!” he beamed and led Appa onto the ice, pulling him towards the direction of the Southern Water Tribe. He walked through the snow happily, skipping and whistling until the village came into view. He grinned before his eyes widened and the smile quickly dropped from his face. “Oh no.” he whispered. 

The wall surrounding the water tribe village was completely destroyed, made into rubble. Much of the snow surrounding it was black with soot, a Fire Nation flag waving high above the village. Aang felt his heart stop in his chest as he stared in horror. How could this happen. “Appa, you wait here.” he waterbent the snow around Appa so it would cover him in layer of ice, making him just appear as a snow mound. Aang took a breath and walked towards the village, keeping his head down, trying to stay out of sight. He hadn’t had to actually fight in years, but he was still the master of the elements, he was cocky. He was sure that these guys wouldn’t be a problem. He snuck in, avoiding fire nation soldiers. He eventually found Gran-gran’s tent. She could help him, he was sure of it. He snuck inside.

Gran-gran was sitting in front of a weak fire, huddling for warmth. She was knitting as well, her head down. She looked up when she heard footsteps approach. Her eyes widened and she stood up, her eyes traveling over Aang’s tattoos. “You are the avatar.” she recognized plainly. She bowed. “We have been waiting for you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so that was that! Tell me what you think! I understand that this chapter probably felt kinda rushed, oops. Even negative comments can help me learn what to improve on, so please give be feedback!


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